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Updated: Jun 24, 2026

Using Facial Electromyography to Assess Facial Muscle Reactions to Experienced and Observed Affective Touch in Humans
Published on: March 15, 2019
Coding of pleasant touch by unmyelinated afferents in humans
Line S Löken1, Johan Wessberg, India Morrison
1Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. line.loken@neuro.gu.se
Abstract:
Pleasant touch sensations may begin with neural coding in the periphery by specific afferents. We found that during soft brush stroking, low-threshold unmyelinated mechanoreceptors (C-tactile), but not myelinated afferents, responded most vigorously at intermediate brushing velocities (1-10 cm s(-1)), which were perceived by subjects as being the most pleasant. Our results indicate that C-tactile afferents constitute a privileged peripheral pathway for pleasant tactile stimulation that is likely to signal affiliative social body contact.
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